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The players change (though not as many as in years past) but the goal does and always will remain the same.
“We play to win championships,” said Putnam Science Academy point guard Darryl Simmons, who could become the only Mustang in history to win three rings. “We want to get better every day, play hard, play with energy, all that. And if we do, we’ve got a chance. Because that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Simmons is one of five Mustangs players who were on last year’s undefeated national championship team, an unusually high number for them. And all five are expected to play major roles in the quest for title number four, as opposed to last year when two, maybe three, of them did.
Simmons, looking to bounce back from a season and summer that was stunted by injury, is nearly back to form and in place to lead, particularly on the defensive end, where the Mustangs are notorious for creating so much of their offense. He is joined by Alabama-bound Mouhamed Dioubate, who now has so much more to his game than just rebounding. Dioubate was a force on the offensive glass in particular last year but has expanded his repertoire and can now affect the game off the dribble and with his shooting.
“I don’t think there are many other players I’d rather have at the prep school level than Mouhamed Dioubate,” coach Tom Espinosa said. “You could throw a lot of names at me, and I don’t know if I’d trade him for anybody. He’s a beast.”
Miles Rose, Duane Thompson, and Jabal Adamu will all see their roles expand. Rose, who has committed to St. Bonaventure, will this year get consistent minutes as opposed to last year when he could get 18 one game but just three the next. Thompson and Adamu both played sparingly, mostly garbage-time minutes long after the outcome had been decided. This year, they will determine when the game is decided. Thompson – who could lead the team in scoring – returned to campus 20 pounds lighter and taking his responsibilities much more seriously, while the 6-foot, 10-inch Adamu is now the team’s leading big man.
“Miles, Duane, Adamu,” Espinosa said. “These guys have waited their turn for this, and now it’s their time and they have shown they’re ready to make the most of the opportunity. They’ve been great in the preseason, not just performance, but as leaders.”
The returnees are joined by a host of talented newcomers that give Espinosa and his staff a roster they think is deeper than last year and that has more consistent shooting.
“Last year, we got probably 75 percent of our offense from our defense,” Espinosa said. “This year, when teams play those junk defenses we’re really going to punish them because of how well we shoot it.”
Two key pieces to that are Rhode Island commit Connor Dubsky and Northwestern-bound Blake Barkley. Will Lovings-Watts and Tarique Foster shot it better in the preseason than the coaches expected. Guards DJ Dormu, who is lightning-quick, and Ramsay Checo give the Mustangs even more shooting depth, in addition to Simmons, Thompson, and Rose as well.
Big men Ben Ahmed, Jimmy Cami, and Pop Wadeng round out the roster. Ahmed is big and strong and will have an impact on this team despite being just 15 years old, and down the road.
“The guys who have been here talk about it, we talk about it as coaches, and the new guys want it too,” Espinosa said. “Last year was a special year for a lot of reasons, but winning a national championship was the biggest one. We want another one. That’s always the goal here.”
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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